Brazil, Women, and Rights
Women In Brazil: Pressing Trends
Primary Article Contributors
Omar Mashnuk – Team Leader
Editors
Victoria Bikowski - Team Co - Leader
Key Words: Brazil, Trends, Women, Women’s Rights, Social Welfare
Women in Brazil gained the right to vote in 1932; voter turnout of men and women has remained roughly equal since then. In 1979, Brazil elected their first female senator. Today, women make up 9% of elected federal officials, 34% of ministerial positions and 59% of legislators, senior officials and managers.
Equal rights for men and women are guaranteed by Brazil’s 1988 constitution, and by law, 30% of all candidates in mayoral, gubernatorial and parliamentary elections must be women. However, in most cases, this law is not upheld and political parties often blame a lack of qualified women available to run for office.
Dilma Rousseff, South America’s 8th elected female head of state, has taken many steps towards greater gender equality during her five years as president. Gender equality is a key part of Rouseff’s political platform and Rouseff has been instrumental in the advancement of women into senior government and industry positions, including the appointment of Maria das Graças Foster as CEO of Petrobras. Rouseff prefers that her staff be comprised of as many women as she can possibly attain; which may explain why most of her advisors are women.
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) ranks Brazil 71st out of 142 countries in gender equality. In the same index, the WEF ranks Brazil 1st in educational attainment and health and survival, 74th in political empowerment and 81st in economic opportunity. Women account for a majority of university students in Brazil and 88% of women in Brazil are literate. Although women in Brazil are generally better educated than their male counterparts, this has failed to translate into greater economic and political participation.
Since, Rousseff entered office in 2010, Brazil has risen 11 spots in WEF’s gender gap index, making significant improvements in educational attainment and political empowerment. She has also been a key player in the promotion and expansion of the Bolsa Familia social welfare program, which predominantly assists female heads of households through cash transfers. Rousseff has also been key in the promotion of Pronatec, a social welfare program aimed at increasing the amount of technical and vocational available to Brazil’s poorest citizens.
Female voters were instrumental for Rouseff’s re - election this past fall and are likely to continue supporting Rousseff as long as she makes gender equality an important part of her platform. Rousseff has signed laws aimed at preventing violence against women, has continued popular social programs whose recipients are majority women, and has appointed women to senior positions within the government. However, despite possessing a higher average skill level than their male counterparts in the labour force, women in Brazil face a wage gap of 38.5%. Furthermore, domestic violence, sexual harassment and sex tourism continue to be prominent social issues that prevent the full achievement of gender equality in Brazil
Although the position of women in Brazilian society has improved greatly in the past century, they continue to suffer from a legacy of patriarchy and institutionalized dependence. Nevertheless, the situation has steadily been improving in the past decade and will only get better under the leadership of Rousseff. Women in Brazil can expect the expansion of social programs, more senior positions within the government, and an active fight against systemic discrimination within the workplace.
